Fantôme Saison D'Erezée - Printemps | Brasserie Fantôme

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Poured from a 750 into a beer goblet.
Look: clear, gold
Smell: Herb/spice bomb! Smelled like Ricola lozenges. No barnyard, no green strawberry aroma, no funk.
Taste: Tasted like a sickly sweet herbal liquor, like chartreuse. Little tartness. Phenols from the spices, tannic from the herbs, and overly sweet. Hard to get down a full goblet.
Feel: Viscous body, too low carb. Again, like Charteuse or herbal cough medicine.
Overall: Disappointed in this, my first Fantôme.
This is for the 2015 version, enjoyed in September of that year.

L - Color is light gold with some orange. Just a bit hazy with an unusual greenish tint when held up to the light. Head is ivory colored and piles insanely high on the initial pour. It settles to a thick blanket of creamy bubbles that looks like it could float a quarter even after settling.

S - Aromas are intense and complex and full of spices. Strong coriander is the most obvious component to me. It gives a sharp, medicinal note. Under that I get grassy notes, light lemon, and a bit of clove. The spices mask any malt or hops aromas for me.

T - The primary flavor component is sharp and medicinal, like the aroma, accompanied by strong bitterness. Again, it reminds me of coriander. After the initial astringent palate entry, things soften and the spices fade a bit. In mid-palate there is some low, clean, bready malt and grassy hos. In the finish are some bubblegum yeast notes, but at a lower level than the coriander, which reasserts itself at that point and in the aftertaste.

F - Medium body. Strong, prickly carbonation with some carbonic acid bite. Bitterness/astringency is strong but whether from hops or spices is unclear. Moderate alcohol presence. The finish is dry, despite some malt sweetness in mid-palate.

O - This is a strongly spiced beer with an unusually sharp aroma and flavor, but the overall experience is more pleasing than it sounds.

A very pleasant saison. Strong herbal (Chamomile?), floral, grassy character to this highly carbed saison. No offputting flavors or lack of carbonation on this bottling. The alcohol in this is completely undetectable at 8%. Starts out with a hint of sweetness that I thought worked well with the herbal/grassy character.

Ach. Well not the best example, perhaps. Cellar temp, gushed on opening.
I wish the taste followed the complex aroma, bit funky little spice/clove..maybe citrus. Really interesting.
Carbonation in this bottle is harsh. After the bubbles, it's heavy spice and not really balanced to my tastes. It did drink a little better 20m later.

Ah, even later I believe I can taste what it should have been.. far better. Maybe just a massively overcarbed example.

This one pours a cloudy light orange/yellow, with a half inch head, and a small amount of lacing.

This one smells super weird, and just funky. I get cucumber, dill, parmesan cheese, oregano, lemongrass, grassy hops, and some mild tartness. What the hell is going on here?

The more I drank this, the more it grew on me. All of the above foods are there, with the parmesan and the lemongrass being the most dominant flavors. There's a mild hop presence, with a very atypical yeast character. There's some slight citrus, but this just mostly tastes super earthy and green. I have no idea what spices go into this beer, but I feel like someone raided an old spice rack and just went to town here.

This is medium bodied, with a slightly grainy mouthfeel. Slightly oily.

This was quite possibly the weirdest beer I've ever had, but it was oddly enjoyable.